Wednesday, 5 January 2011

184 WORLD OF TWIST, St. Etienne, Satellite, London Astoria, Wednesday 27 March 1991

I was conveniently in London thanks to a work meeting, so afterwards I met Veronica at Paddington from the train, and hit the venue in time to catch the competent guitar sound of openers Satellite.

Decided to watch the set from the balcony, so had an excellent view of St. Etienne's laid-back, late night jazzy dance set. Veronica liked it a lot, and I found it pleasant albeit a little wallpaper-like.

World Of Twist, however, were a different proposition. Coming on amidst white light, white noise, dry ice and fireworks to an elaborately decorated stage set (silver curtains, white glittery rugs and, most oddly, huge pictures of dog's faces!), they certainly knew how to make an entrance! Possessed of an ear for obvious dance tunes reminiscent of Win at their finest, WOT, with immaculate vocalist Tony Ogden leading proceedings, also displayed a rampant thrust and power which blew away any preconceptions that this might be a polite dance music set. Live, their songs took on urgency, might and dynamism, and were simply awesome. Ogden, a frontman with the charisma of a Stipe, McCulloch or Cope (yup, that good) is a true superstar of our times. If this review sounds a little garbled, it's because I'm having difficulty expressing just how good they were!

Brilliant stuff! "The best gig ever," said Veronica on leaving. It's certainly up there...